Process and mechanism for topping hosiery



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w. L. HOUSEMAN PROCESS AND MECHANISM FOR TOPPING HOSIERY Filed May 9, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l e ?a ,5 [W] i l V WM W. L. HOUSEMAN Oct. 14 2 PROCESS AND MECHANISM FOR TOPPING HOSIERY Filed Ma 9 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F/G. l2.

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Patenta& Oct. 14, 1924,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

ARD MACHINE COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS AND MECEANISM FO'R TOPPING EQSIE'BY.

Application filed Kay 9,

To' all whom it may concem:

Be it known that I, WILBUR L. HOUSE- MAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadel hia, County of Philadelphia,

6 and State of l ennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Prooesses and Mechanism for Topping Hosiery, of

which the followi is a. full clear, and eX- act description, reerence being had to the 30 aecompanyin drawings, which form a part of this specilcation.

This invention" relates to an improvement in the knittng art and more speoifioally relates to the art of topp ing hosiery.

In the manufacture of Socks or half hose having a ribbed to and plain leg, heel, foot and toe portions, the tops are kmt in a continuous manner on a ribbing machine and severed from each other. The tops are then positioned on topping or transfer rings and are transferred, therefron to the needles of a circular machine for making plain fabric and the stockings are completed thereon with the excep-tion of looping the toe.

Heretofore a large pereentage of hosiery of this type, and particularly hosiery of fine 'gege and hosiery knit on the smaller diameter machines, Were thrown out as menders or seconds, due to imperfect loops fornedfby the first needles thrown into action on the e lain machine, or the first plain' loops form at the junction'of the cufi` and leg portions of the hose. either forming the first loops too loose or too tight. If too loose, the fabric at this point Will appear as if stitches were dro or the loops cut, and if too tight the l oops will in some cases, be cut when the needles pass therethrough or will be so weakene'd by being strained during the passage of the needle that they will be broken under a slight stran.

The hosiery knitting machines of today ure provided with various yarn carriers to supply different yarns to different portions of the stockings. These yam carriers are thrown into' and out of aotion'at predetermined times by means of pattern mechanism. The ends of' the various yarns which are held out of action by their yarnrcarriers y are fixedly clamped' so that the yarn between the earriers and clamp is taut so as to enable This is caused by said came will be shifted 1322. serial No. 559384.

the yarns to be thrown into the needles at snbstantially predetermined points'by their carriers.

When making half hose or machines such as shown in Houseman Patents No. 1,204,445, dated November 14, 1916, and No.

1206548, dated December 5, 1916, the latch' ring, yarn clamp, ete., are thrown out of operative relation to the needles and the needles are moved to a level at which the ends of their latehes' are below the sinhers. The transfer ring is then placed in position on the needles and the loops are transfer-red from the points on the ring to the needles. The transfer ring is then removed, the lateh ring thrown down 'and the hitting machine is then set into operation.. When the maohineis set into operation the needle cylinder together with its needles are rotated for a short period without reciprocating the needles.. The stitch andraising camsfltogether with the yarn carrier, ere then thrown into action at predetermined times by the pattern mechanism and during the time the short bntt newles or the needles for forming the heel and toe are passin the raising cam, these butts will prevent the raising and stitch cams from being moved radially to their extreme positions,

or the positions to reciprocate the short butt needles. As the butts of the long butt needles 'pass over the raising cam, sa d needles will first be raised to clear their latches of the loops (of the toptransferred thereto) and. take the yam which is thrown into action a plurality of needles in advance of the lo butt needles, and the yam is caught by ?e hooks of the long butt needles and drawn through the loops of the cuif by the stitchicam When the cylnder and needles have been rotated a suflicent distance to move the butts of the short butt needles beyond the raising and stitch came, into their extreme knitting positions by their sprin so -as to be positioned to actuate the ort butt needles when said needles reach the coms. The leg, heel, foot and toe of the stockng are now knit and after a sflioient number of rounds have been knit for the lo oper, the yam carrier is thrown out of action and the yam is elamped and cut. This throwng out of action of the yarn will cast off the finished stocking and the machine is then automatically stopped.

As before stated, he yam is thrown into action shortly before the first long butt needle reaches the yarn 'carrier, and if the yarn is not thrown in on the proper short butt needle, the first loop made by the long butt needle will be rnperfect.

Attempts have been made to feed the yarn to the machine between two predetermined needles in advance of the first needle to knit (the first long butt needle), and if the yam could be controlled to such a nicety, fairly good results would follow. When this problem is fairly studied, it will be appreciated that so many varying factors enter into the problem' that it will appear to be impossible to insure the feed of the yarn between two predetermined needles. Some of these factor-s may be enumerated as follows:

(1) Different conditions will arise with different yarns.

?2 Tension on the yarn.

3 Tension of the "bel t which will cause variations' in the ick-up of speed when the machine is started? If the belt is tight and the speed is high, the yarn will be thrown in later than if running at a slower speed with'a loose belt.

(4) Air currents bowing the yarn between the clamp and carrier.

5% Condition ofthe two redetermin'ed need es between which it is esired to cast the gam relative to the axis of the cylinder. If t e first needle is bent either laterally in a reverse direction to the rotation of the c lindor or backwardly toward the axis of t e cylinder, said needle is liable to take the yarninstead of passing it; or if the other needle is bent laterally toward the first needle or 'forwardly away from the axis of the cylinder, it isliable to miss the yarn instead of receivin it.

It will, t erefore, be seen that it would be practically impossible to overcome this problem by attem ting to cast the arn between predetermine needles at the eginning of the knitting.

I attempted to solve the problem, in this manner, by various adjustments to attempt to control the casting of the yarn, but was unable to definitely control the cast, which I considered due to the above mentioned uncontrollable factors or others unknown to me. e

I found that if the yard were cast between the third and fourth needles in advance of the first needle to knit' (the first long butt needle), the best results could be obtained. If, however, it was cast later, for instance, between the second and third, a loose stitch would be formed in the first knitting needle, due to the stitch not being drawn tightly 'form loops on I then considered and tried other ways of solving this problem and finally discovered a simple solution whereby I could delive' the yarn to the first needle to knit under the same conditions that yarn is delivered to the remainder of the needles, and as the yarn for the first loop is delivered to its forming needle under the same conditions as the yarn for the other loops, it follows that the loops will all be of substantially the same size.

Moreover, it is not essential to cast the yarn between any predetermined needles, it being practical to cast it between any two needles without any abnormal strain being placed onthe yarn when the stitch is being formed by the first knitting needle.

This is accomplished, in ,the way illustrated in the accompanying drawings, by delivering yarn to the hook or hooks of one or' a number of needles, as, for' exam le,

three, without raisng the needles to ree the latches from the loops thereon, passing' the butts of said needles under the stitch i cam to draw yarn from the supply without drawing the yarn throu h the loops to form new loops, and raising t e following needles to `free the latches from the loops so that the yarn caught by the hooks thereof will be drawn through the loops thereon to form new loops. ssuming that yarn was fed to the liooks of three needles which were lowered by the stitch cam without first clearing the latches of the loops thereon, the first loop formed would be on the fourth needle, the yarn for forming this loop being subjected to the same conditions as the loops formed by the following needles, that is, drawn` from the needles at one side which had previousl-y drawn yarn and passed under the stitch cams, and drawn from the supply atthe other side. As the yarn :fed to the needle which forms the first loop is subjected to the same tension on both sides of said needle as the yarn fed to the needles for the other loops, it follows that the first loops formed will be the same size as the other loops.

As before described, the yarn fed to the hooks of the first three needles does not the first round, but clears the latches of said needles when the said needles are raised on the next round and in the majority of cases the yarn fed is knit in as tuck stitches by said needles on their next downward movement under the stitch cam. This not only assures the proper yarn tension for forming the first loop, but knits in by means of tucz stitches at least a portion of the beginning of the yarn in aduume vance of the first stitch, which will prevent this end of the yarn from pulling out or the stitch from loosening.

In 'order to manipulate the yam by the needles, as above described, I Shorten the butts of the first three long butt needles. The length of the butts of these three needles is less than the lon butts, but greater than the short batte. chine is set into motion after transferring the top thereto, the came are released so as to be moved radially toward the needle cylinder before the medium len h butts are in front of the raising cam an before the long butts reach said cam.

The raising cam ismoved in radially beyond the ends of the long butts, but not far enough to enage the medium bu tts, so the long butt nes will be raised to clear their latches of the loops. Shortly after the medium butt needles pass the raising cam, the raising and stitch came will be released so tha-t their springs are free to act to move said cams radially to' their normal knitting positions.

The stitch cam, however, which is back of the rais' cam, will be moved into engagement wi tthe ends of the short butts so that 'the three medium butt needles will be drawn down by the stitch cam to draw yarn from the supply by the three medium butt needles before the first loop of the plan fabric is drawn through a. loop of the top which was transferred to the needles. As

soon as the raising cam is released after it has been passed by the three medium butt needles, said cam will be shifted by its spring to its position for actuating all of the needles, and as soon as all the short' butts have passed the stitch cam, said stitch cam will be shifted to its position for actuatin all needles.

he precise nature of my invention will best be understood by reference to the drawings, which .will now' be described, it being premised, however, that changes may be made Without depart ing :from the spirit and soope of my invention as defined in the appended machine claims; it being also understood that the process herein described and claimed is not dependent for its operation upon any particular mechanism.

F ig. 1 is a plan View of a portion of a knitting machine head.

Fig. 2 is a sectional View thereof. Fig. 3 is a face view of the needle aotuatn cams.

ig. 4 is a side View of three needles in i three difi'erent horizontal planes.

Fi 5, 6 and 7 are diagrams illustrating the t ree different positions of the raising cam.

Fig. 8 is a face view of a portion of the needles, illustrating the manipulation of the en the mayarn and needles at the beginning of the first round of knitting.

Fig. 9 is a similar view on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 8, but in which the action of the needles is somewhat in advance of that shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 11 is a perspectve view of two needles, having different length latches, which may be used for 'carr in out my invention, in place of needles avng different length butts. 4

Figs. 12 and 13 are face and plan views, respectively, of cams for raising the needles, when needles having different length latches are used.

Tn these drawing-s, a desgnates the needle cylinder which is rotatably mounted in a base b and which is rotated and oscillated in the usal mannez Mounted for rotation I .on the base Z isa cam disc d to which are Secured control cams, for actuating the various devices which are shifted in proper se- %uenceduring the knitting of stockings. his disc d is moved step by step in the usual manner, and the movement thereof is in turn controlled by the well known pattern chain mechanism, not illustrated herein.

Supported on the top of the base b is a cam ring f having surfaces g, g, g, in the same horizontal plane, see Fig. 3. This ring is provided with the usual inclined surfaces IL', h k and h j and Ic are guard or top cams 'and Z is a centre cam; These three cams are fixed relative to the cam ring f and their uppersurfaces are all in. the 'same horizontal plane. Mounted in suitable guides on the cam ring f are slides m and n. Connected to slide m is a combined raising and stitch cam o and connected to slide n is a similar cam p. `These slides m and" n are each provided witha spring g for moving the slides toward the needle cylinder, and are also provided with adjustable screws r which engage o-ne arm 'of a double bell crank lever s, which lever is pivoted in the bed b. The other arm of this bell crank lever is engaged by a pin t slidably mounted in the bed b. The pint normally rests on the upper surface of disc (I and is maintained to two higher positions by cam e, as hereinafter described.

v Slidably mounted in the cylind-er are three sets of latch needles which are the same in all respects, with the exception that the butts of each set difl'cr in length from the Fig. 6, and as the needle cylinder is rotated needles 9,10 and 11 wi inclusive, not beng In these figures, u designates the yarn clamp, the sinkers. In this description the needles have bee'n designated 1 to 108, with the assumption that there are one hundred and eight needles in the cylinder. and in all of which the needles are viewed from the in-` side of the cylinder so as to show how they are manipul'ated by the cams shown in Fig. 3.

When a top is transferred' to the machine to knit other nortions thereto', all of the needles are in the plane of needles 1 to 8, as the' b'utts of all of the needles have been shifted into a horizontal plane just above surfaces g, g of ring f. 'At this time cams o and p are withdrawn as .shown 'in Fig. 5 with their slides m and n by a cam e on the cam disc, the high portion e' of which is under pin t.

After the top has been transferred to the machine, the loops of the top will so engage the needles as to prevent their latches from closing and casting the loops of the top without first raisin the needles to clear the latches of the oops. The latch ring (not shown) is now thrown down into position about 'the needles and the mac-hine is set into motion. Immediately after the machine is set into motion, the yarn carrier y is thrown into position to cast the yarn between needles 10 and 1, see Fig. 8. At this time, cam disc dis shift'ed to bring the cutaway portion e, of cam e under pin t to Shift cams o and p into position to engage the long butts of the needles, as 'shown n counter-clockwise, cam o will act as a raising or latch' clearing cam, while cam p will act as astitch drawng cam. One halt of the needles from 63 to 108, inclusive, 1 to 8, butts, needles 9, 10 and 11 with medium length butts and needles 12 to 62, inclusive, with-long butts; needles 17 to 106,

illustrated.

The cams o and p are shifted to the position shown in Fig'. 6 (by reason of the pin t and dropping from hghportion e' onto the portion e' of cam e) pror to the time that-cam o is reached by the first long butt needle 12, which raises the lon butt needles to clear the latches. Immedately after needle 11 passes cam o, cam disc d will be shifted to move cam e out from. under pin t 'and as cam o is under the long butt needles, its

spring g will Shift thecam to its regular knitting position. As the short butt needles have. not pass d the stitch cam at this time, said camtwill be shfted by ts sprng g against the short butts and as camp is now positioned to enga e the medium butts, be drawn down by the stitch cam p,.and as the loops transw the yarn, y the yarn carrier, and w inciusive, are provided with short' ferred to these needles are between the hooks and the latches, the said loops as well as a supply of yarn will be drawn by these needles between their respective sinkers, while needle 12 (the first long butt needle) which was raised by cam 0 to clear its latch of the transferred loop will form the first stitch of the fabric by drawing yarn through the said transferred loop, while said transferred loop will be cast over the hook of needle 12 by the sinkers, see Figure 9. Needle 12 in its downward movement under the point of cam 7 will not only draw yarn from the supply through the yarn carrier y, but will draw or rob needle 11 of some of the yarn which it drew throu h the yarn carrier, as the said needle 11 is ree to move up along the back of cam p. The stitch cam p 'will be moved into its extreme position by its spring g to en age the short butt needles after the last s ort butt needle has passed the cam. The first short butt needle after the last long butt needle (neither of which is shown) which I have designated as needle 62 as well as short butt needles 63 to 198 and needles 1 to 11 will now-be raised successively to free their latches and to form their first loops, and the second round of knitting will be started on needle 12. Some of the stitches formed by the last needles to complete the first round of knitting, or the needles in advance of the long butts, will not only interknit the first round with t'erred to the said needles, but .will also in- 'terknit the loose yarn thrown in front of those needles by the' carrier y when first thrown into action. This will lock or interknit the beginning of the yarn formng the first loop on needle 12 withloops formed by nedles 9, 10 and 11.

The manipulation of, one or more needles in -advance of the first needle to 'knit, to rovide yarn to form the first loop, may e accomplished by other means known to the art, than that above described. For example, another way of formng the' first stitch is illustratcd in- In this form, needles'S' and long latched needles, respectively, and function the same as needles 8 and 9, of Figs. 8 to 10; that is, needle 8' does not draw yarn on the first round, whle needle 9' having a long latch is the first needle .to draw yarn. I i

Assummg that yarn is to be drawn by only one needle (needle 9') nadvance of the first needle 'to knit, one half of the needles are provided with short butts whle the other half are rovided with long butts. The-.first long butt needle ispro'vde with a lon latch, while all the-other needles 'are provi ed with normal latchea When using this type of mechansm, the sttch cam the loops trans- Figs. 11, 12 and 13. and 9' are short I 9', the long latch needle.

is the same as the cam p shown in Fig. 3, while the raising cam is of the form shown in Figs. 12 and 13.

When starting to knit to the loops transferred to the needles with this form of mechanisn, the yarn carrier is thrown into action to cast the yarn in front of a plurality of short butt needles, as in the other form. The needle actuating cans are then thrown into position to engage the long butt needles but not the short butt needles, and when in such position, the portion 0 of cam 0' is not in a position to engage the butts of any of the needles. As the needle cylinder is rotated after the cams have been shifted, the long butt needles will engage cam 0', which will raise all the long butt needles to a sufficient height to cause the latches of all of said needles to clear 'the loops thereon, with the exception of needle As needle 9' is not raised to clear its latch, it will not draw yarn through the loop thereon when passing under the stitch cam, but will draw yarn from the supply to furnish yarn for the next needle, lrnt. After this needle passes the raising cam 0', the cans are thrown to their full knitting positions, and when so positioned the long butts, at least, will be engaged by portion 0 of the raising cam to raise the needles to a height to clear all the latches of their loops, so that needle 9' will knit its first loop just before the first needle to knit forms its second loop.

As the first loop formed on needle 12 is formed in precisely the same manner as loops, so that all other loops, by drawing yarn through the yarn carrer and by robbng yarn from the preceding needle which also drew yarn through the carrier and robbed its preceding needed, the first stitch must necessarily be of the same size and tensiofas the other loops. v

The advantages of my invention result from the provision of a method for and means wherebythe first stitch formed durmg the knitting of fabric to a previously formed piece of fabric is formed under the same conditions as the successive subsequent the size and tension of the first knitted loops is substantially the same as subseque'nt loops and thereby avoid the making of seconds or menders.

avng now fully described my' inventon, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is- The process of knitting tubular fabric to a previously knitted piece of tubular fabr'c, comprising transferring the previously kmt fabric onto the needles of a circular bank of needles, drawing yarn from a supply and also drawing therewith one or more of the loops of the previously formed fabrio without drawin said yarn throu h said loop or loops, then rawing the yarn t rough which is the first needle to of needles,

the successive following loops of the previously formed fabric, then drawing loops of yarn through the first mentioned loop or loops of the transferred fabrc to complete the first round of interlooped fabric, and then successively drawing loops of yarn through the new loops as in regular hitting.

2. The method of manipulating the needles of a circular machine to knit tubular fabric to a piece of tubular fabric transferred to sad needles, yarn in the hooks of one or more needles and drawing yarn therewith from the supply without forming loops by drawing such yarn through the loops on such needle or needles. laying the yarn in the hooks of the following needles in a successive manner and forming loops therewith by drawing the yarn through the loops transferred to the needles, then, after yarn has been delivered to the hooks of all of the needles, again delivering yarn to the hooks of the needles which Were first supplied with yarn and now drawing the yarn through the transferred loops on the needles, and then drawing the yarn in a successivo manner and order through the loops formed by said needles to complete the fabric.

3. In a machine for knitting fabric to a cuff transferred to the needles of said machine, comprsng means for raising the needles to clear the latches of the loops transferred thereto, a yarn carrier for feeding yarn to the hooks of the needles, and means for .lowering the needles to draw the yarn laid in the hooks of the needles through i the loop transferred thereto, said needle manipulating means being arranged to lower at least one needle to draw yarn in ad- Vance of the first needle whose latch has cleared a loop of the transferred cufl".

4. In a machine for knittng fabric to comprising laying a cufi" transfer-red to the needles of said machine, comprising a cam devoe for raising the needles to clear the needle latches of loops thereon, a yarn carrier for feedng means for lowering the needles to draw yarn through the yarn carrier and draw the needles through the loops thereon if the latches have been cleared, and meansto ma.- nipulate the cams to cause one or more needles in advance of the first needle that draws yarn through a loop and whose latches have not been cleared, to draw yam through the carrier so that the yarn on opposite sides of the first needle to knit s subjected to the same conditions as occur under normal knitting.

5. The process of knitting tubular fabric to a previously knit piece of tubular fabric, comprisi g transferring said previousl knit fabric to the needles of a-circular bimii feedng yarn to the needles and yarn to the hooks of the needles, cam

. yarn supply, means first drawing one or moreunknit loops of the yarn wit out drawing yarn through the transferred loops and then successively drawing loops of the yarn through loops of the previously knit tubular piece.

- 6. In a machine for knitting fabric to a cufi transferred to the needles of said machine, comprising means for raising the needles to clear the latches of the loops transfe'rred thereto, a yarn carrier for feeding yarn to the hooks of the needles, and means forrlowering the needles to draw the yarn laid in the hooks of the needles through the loops transferred thereto, said needle manipulatng means being arranged to lower at least one needle to draw yarn in advance of the first needle whose latch has cleared a loop of the transferred cuff.

7. A machine for knitting tubular fabric toa tubular fabric which has been transferred to a circular bank of needles, compriing said bank of needles, a source of to operate the needles to cause them to successively draw arn from the su ply through the loops o the transferred abric and cast said loops, and means operative on the first round of knitting to prevent one or more of the first needles whch draw yarn from the yarn supply after transferrin from casting the loop or loops on said nee le or needles.

8. In a machine for knitting fabric to a cufl' transferred to theneedles of said machine, comprising a cam device -for raising the needles to clear the needle latches of loops thereon, a yarn carrier for feeding yarn to the hooks of the needles, cam means for lowering the needles to draw yarn through the yarn carrier and draw the needles through the loops thereon if the latches have been cleared, and means to manipulate their V 10. A circularknitting machine :for knitting fabric to fabric transferred to the nec-- the cams to cause one or more needles in advance of the first needle 'that draws yarn through a loop and whose latches have not been cleared, to draw yarn through the carrier so that the yarn on opposite -sidesof the first needle to knit is subjected to the same conditions as occur under normal knitting. 9. In a machine for knitting fabric to a cufl' transferred to the needles of said machine, comprising a cam device for raisin the needles to clear the needle latches o loops thereon, a yarn carrier for feeding yarn to the hooks of the needles, cam means for lowering` the needles to draw 'yarn through the yarn carrier and draw the needles through the loops thereon 'if the latches have been cleare'd, and means to manipulate the cams to permit the first needle or needles actuated by draw lyarn with their books without freeing atches of the transferred loops.

dles thereof, comprisingmeans :tor deliverthe cams after t'ransferring to- .on this 27th day ing yarn to a predetermined number of nee- 'dles in advance of the needle first manipulated to draw the yarn through a loop thereon, cams for manipulating said needles, and means for controlling said cams to cause them to actuate at least one of the needles to which the yarn is first delivered to draw yarn through the yarn delivery means without casting the stitches thereon and to cause the following needles to draw the yarn through the loops thereon, cast the old loops and form new loops, so

that loops drawn t through the transferred loops by the needle p first manipulated 'by the cams are formed on thesecond manipulation of said needles.

ll. A circular knitting machine for knitting fabric to fabric transferred to the needles thereof, comprising a yarn carrier for delivering yarn to the needles, means for driving the machine, yarn carrier actuating connectons between the pattern mechansm and the driving means, a needle raising cam, a stitch camand means under the control of the pattern mechanism to throw the yarn carrier and the cams into action to deliver the yarn to a plurality of needles in advance of the first needle actuatedby the raising cam, the stitch cam` being thrown into action to lower one or more needles to which yarn has been delivered but which have not been raised by the raising cam to draw yarn without drawing it through the loops on the needles, while the first needle which is 'raised by -the raising cam draws the first loop formed by the needles through the loop transferred thei-eto.

12. A circular knitting machine for knitting tubular fabric to a piece of knitted' fabric transferred thereto, having a needle cylinder with needles mounted for reciprocation therein, means for leveling the needles into transferring position, a yarn carrier, a needle raising cam, a stitch cam, means for throwing the yarn carrier into action, means for throwing the cams into action, and controlling mechanism for said means for throwing the yarn carrier into action and for the means for throwing the cams into action for causing the raising cam to successively raise the needles, beginning with a predetermined needle to which yarn has been delivered to. such .a height that. when the stitch cam will be drawn through the transferred loops on said needles. while the stitch cam is thrown into action to lower at least one ne& dle in advance of the first needle raised by the raising cam to draw yarn yarn carrier loop through needle.

In testimony of which invention, I have hereunto set my hand, at Philadelphia, Pa.,

of April, 1922. WILBUR L. HOUSEMAN.

the transferred loop on said lowers said needles, new loops through the and without drawing a new 

